When detachable warrants are issued, allocate the proceeds from the sale of a debt instrument with detachable warrants between the two items, based on their free-standing relative fair values on the issuance date. Allocate the portion of the proceeds assigned to the warrants to paid-in capital, and the remainder to the debt instrument.

Example of Detachable Warrant Accounting

Hostetler Corporation issues $1 million of convertible debt that includes 200,000 detachable warrants. The fair value of the convertible debt without the warrants is $900,000 and the fair value of the detachable warrants is $300,000 without the debt. Based on their relative fair values, Hostetler assigns $750,000 to the debt (calculated as $900,000 ÷ ($900,000 + $300,000)) and $250,000 to the detachable warrants (calculated as $300,000 ÷ ($900,000 + $300,000)). The resulting journal entry is: